Zalul - cleaning Israel's waterways

I had the pleasure of meeting with Yariv Abramovich this past Friday, along with Amos Levy (from the Associated). The purpose of the conversation was to talk about Zalul (which in Hebrew means "clear"), the environmental organization that Yariv runs. Zalul, which is devoted to cleaning up the waterways of Israel, its rivers, seas and ocean, was founded in 2000 by Benjamin Kahn, a wealthy businessman who has a passion for coral reefs, clean water, and a healthy Israel.

Abramovich, the organization's director, is a fascinating fellow, who guides the work of Zalul with a combination of good science, legal fights and street smarts, or what might be gently called, guerilla theater. The organization's targets are big industry and public works that dump sewage and pollutants into Israel's rapidly diminishing and degrading waterways. Not easy adversaries to defeat, or change.

Yet Zalul has, through its creative efforts, enjoyed significant success. Still, there is so very much to do. Abramovich comes to the states often to garner support and funding (although much of his budget continues to be covered by Kahn). While the organization's office is located in Ramat Gan (a suburb of Tel Aviv), Abramovich himself lives in Ashkelon, which happens to be the site of the Lachish river, one of Zalul's targeted rivers to clean up, Yariv's hometown and the sister-city of Baltimore - both for the Associated and Baltimore City!

We are exploring options of how Baltimore might "adopt-a-river", in this case, the Lachish, and work to help Zalul clean it up. We are expecting that Yariv will come back to Baltimore for more discussions. It would be great if folks from BJEN and the broader community had the chance to meet him. He tells great stories. In the meantime, we will keep talking with him, and we will keep you posted.